Millennials and Privacy Rights

The studies elaborated by this Medium article seem to confirm that Millennials see online privacy as an individualistic responsibility, and I think there’s a lot of truth to that. We’ve clicked “Agree” in response to so many different (and yet, almost identical in wording) terms of service that the whole process seems like a mindless transaction. It’s not like you can really refute any of the terms listed, so it’s much easier to click “Yes” and accept the responsibility of making sure that your information is secure on your own.

I think as Millennials, we’re more conscious about our privacy because a lot of our online presence is centered on marketing our content and posts. Whether we share content on public or private accounts, we post with the purpose of establishing and elaborating our own online brand. We want as much control over our information and who has access to it as possible, while also maintaining a realistic view that there is some data that will be collected about us whether we like it or not. The information we elect to share is mostly rooted in our branding and what we want to convey to a vaguely-defined audience.

I thought it was interesting that Medium brought up the way Millennials selectively utilize location services online, because I feel like they accurately relayed my own opinions towards it. When I’m at home, I go out of my way to restrict my location information to a broader “Dallas” if anything at all. The only times I will disclose the suburb I live in is when Snapchat releases a new geotag for it (and in that instance, only a handful of friends who already know where I live will see it), or for political campaigns. However, most of the content I share to social media is related to travel plans, concerts, and shows with specific locations. In those instances, I strangely have no qualms in directly naming a venue or city that I’m in- even when I’m still technically in Dallas.

 From my own experience, I think the perception of online privacy is very much a grey area of thought, and can be easily influenced by how we think certain details from our lives can be used tactfully to serve our online brand.